leslie avenue in glenarden. we have new information. tony, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we just talked with the fire chief here on leslie avenue. and i have to report that one adult male and two of the children have died in this house fire this morning. when they got here, they had to pull out six people, four of them were children. they told us that three of them were in grave condition. and again, the fire chief moments ago telling me that two of the children have died, along with the adult male. a love look, you see -- live look, you see fire investigators inside trying to figure out what started the deadly blaze. i can tell when you they got here -- when i got here at least they were carrying one of the children away. that child was breathing, talking. i got to talk to the firefighter for a moment. he said he was too distraught to talk about the scene. i was told the mother jumped out the window with one of the children as the fire department

was getting on scene. a deadly scene as the house fire has taken three lives. a mobile command center has pulled up. fire investigators here. no word on whether or not the house had working smoke detectors. we've had a lot of fires in prince george's county, that's one of the things i was talking about with chief bashore. they want to make sure people check smoke detectors. a lot of people don't have sprinkler systems in homes and apartments. make sure that those smoke detectors work. guys, devastating news. we had families show up. you can imagine how devastated they are that two children have died along with an adult male. we'll stay on the story all morning. back to you. >> thank you. more breaking news now. another fire. this one in montgomery county, rockville. we pulled up to the scene here. this is a former youth treatment facility which is now vacant. we're talking with firefighters here and will bring you an

update as soon as we get it. tough morning, busy morning, as well. stay with us for updates on the breaking news stories. firefighters battid -- battg mother nature, as well. cold and windy. tom? >> winds gusting 20, 25 miles per hour. now they're settling a little bit. temperatures are below freezing. in the 20s from the mountains to the atlantic beaches. that includes the immediate metro area. it's only near 20 in montgomery county. arlington, fairfax, prince george's, now the low to mid 20s. district of columbia now in the mid 20s. we will stay below freezing to 9:00, 10:00 this morning. mid 30s by noon. we'll have clouds coming and going. winds will be gusting again around 30 miles per hour at noontime. hyattsville, hometown location in prince george's county, back down this time tomorrow below freezing. i'll have details on the rest of the day coming up in ten minutes. coming up with your first look

at first 4 traffic on this thursday, danella? >> good morning. checking an accident, 295 northbound in d.c. the 11th street bridge, a split, a right lane blocked because of a crash there. down i-95, though, delays kwan to triangle, northbound volume still light. 14 minutes to the beltway. over to you. >> thank you. 6:03. breaking news. final arguments being delivered now in a south african courtroom in the bail hearing for olympian onscar pistorius. they're arguing whether pistorius should be released on bail. investigators supported the athlete's story during testimony yesterday. the prosecution argued that despite poor evidence-gathering, pistorius is still a flight risk because of a supposed home he owns in italy. the detective who has led the investigation is now off the case.

hilton botha faces seven counts of attempted murder. he and two other officers fired shots while trying to stop a minivan in 2011. those charges were initially dropped, but it was discovered yesterday that they were reinstated. it is unclear follow revelation will affect whether pistorius is granted bail. a toddler is dead this morning in prince george's county in what appears to be a tragic accident. police say a 3-year-old boy was behind his family's car when it started drifting backwards last night on audrey lane in oxon hill. the father who was carrying his 2-year-old daughter at the time dropped the girl and jumped into the car to try to stop it. it was too late, though. the boy was hit and died from his injuries. the little girl also suffered serious injuries. this morning, five men are in custody in connection with the murder of a 15-year-old boy in prince george's county while police are still searching for the gunman who killed two other teens in the county. all five of these men face charges in charles walker jr.'s murder. officers say the suitland high school freshman was shot and killed monday over a pair of shoes he was carrying.

they don't believe his murder is related to the shooting deaths of two other teens. one of whom was also a student at suitland high school. aaron kidd and andre shuford was shot tuesday in the parking lot of a forestville apartment. kids died on the scene. shuford passed away yesterday. eight days stand between us and the looming sequester cuts. government agencies all over the country are holding their breath to see if congress will make a deal. the national institutes of health would lose $1.5 billion in funding if the deal is not made. that means millions of americans whose lives depend on advanced treatments and research will go without. nih cancer, hiv, and alzheimer's research would be to stop. and before you think you're in the clear, the sequester could affect your next trip. thousands of tsa agents and customs and border protection personnel will be furloughed or laid off. that means wait times for domestic and international flights could double. you could find yourself in line

for three hours just to get through security and up to six hours to get through customs. and republicans are weighing in on their plans to avoid the sequester. speaker of the house john boehner submitted an op-ed in the "wall street journal" sending a strong message to the president. boehner wrote, "the president has repeatedly called for even more tax revenue, but the american people don't support trading spending cuts for higher taxes. the president's sequester is the wrong way to reduce the deficit, but it is here to stay. until washington democrats get serious about cutting spending. the government simply cannot keep delaying the inevitable and spending money it doesn't have." and stay with news4 for continuing coverage of the sequestration showdown as the march 1 deadline approaches. when you can't watch, you can always get the latest information on nbcwashington.com. president obama says a leak of what the white house is planning to do to reform immigration did not hurt the senate's negotiations to change immigration. last friday, a "usa today" article detailed what the white house wants to propose for people coming to the country

illegally just as the senate works to come up with its own bill. the white house says bills get leaked all the time, and that his bill is just a backup in case congressional talks fail. in the meantime, a new poll finds that more than half of u.s. citizens believe that most or all illegal immigrants should be deported. in a survey by reuters and ipsos, 30% believe most illegal immigrant should not be allowed to stay. 23% say all of them should be sent away. only 5% said all immigrants should be allowed to stay. more than 1,400 adults participated in the survey which was conducted on line. breaking news. we are on the scene of two fires this morning. in one here in prince george's county, three people are dead. two of the victims are children. and chopper 4 over another fire. this one in rockville. a former youth treatment facility there went up in flames overnight. an update on both fires ahead. plus, a very cold morning. windchills sending temperatures into the single digits in some places. places. your weather & traffic on the 1s

it's my coffee when i want it. you press a button, you have great dunkin' coffee. i got my coffee for the morning, i got my dunkin' k-cup packs for the rest of the day. only available at dunkin' donuts restaurants. america runs on dunkin' coffee.

good morning. time for weather & traffic on the 1s. at 6:11, temperatures into the 20s. winds blowing around 20 to 30 miles per hour. the windchills are down into the teens to just near ten degrees. you need the warmest winter gear. here's the temperature scale. there's the time frame. by noontime, mid 30s. by mid-afternoon, around 40 degrees. winds still blowing. lots of sunshine. temperatures will drop after midnight near freezing. and maybe a little wintry mix tomorrow. we'll talk about that and the weekend forecast, seven-day forecast in ten minutes. danella? good morning. tracking problems in the first 4 traffic office, northbound 295 at the 11th street bridge, still seeing the right lane blocked. traveling northbound 29 in maryland, fairland road, you have an accident right past the light here. you see blocking the right lane,

we'll talk about delays. they're significant right now as you head northbound at randolph road. you see absolutely jammed. stick to the left to get by the accident. back to you. >> thank you. wading back into politics. the major event that mitt romney will be attending. and tragedy overnight. three people killed in a house fire.

6:15. we're staying on top of breaking news. tragedy for a prince george's county family overnight. you're looking live at the scene of a serious house fire that hurt six people including four children. we've just learned that two of the children and one adult male have died. >> this is happening in the 8600 block of leslie avenue in glenarden. stay with us for the latest on the story. we are also on the scene of a fire in montgomery county. flames ripped through a former youth treatment facility in rockville. want to go live to megan mcgrath now with more. megan? >> reporter: well, this is the former karma academy treatment facility for boys. it's been closed for a number of years, actually boarded up.

the electricity cut off. but early this morning, about quarter to 5:00, it caught on fire. 911 call coming in to montgomery county police. i'm joined by scott graham with the fire department. scott, we're going to start with a picture that you tweeted out this morning. if their fire was really going when you arrived on the scene. >> yeah. the initial firefighters arriving at quarter to 5:00 said they were on the scene with a heavy fire from the roof of the structure involving most of the structure. they went to a defensive attack immediately. called for a second alarm due to the side of the structure. and it has remained a defensive operation since that time. >> reporter: what do we know about the status of the building? it's closed and boarded up. is there reason to believe perhaps people are -- were spotted or living -- squatting or living there? >> we've to see rule that out. we have to find out what the ignition source was. our investigators will be here throughout the morning trying to find that source. trying to rule out what the cause of the fire is. our concern certainly is that

this type of weather, a board up or abandoned building, we want to make certain that there was no one in the building. >> reporter: where do we go from here? they're putting out the fire, although the bulk is out. >> the bulk is out. they're mopping up hot spots now. as soon as we can clear the fire apparatus, investigators will go in and begin their process. >> reporter: okay. thank you very much for joining us. and so firefighters still here on the scene. they're going to be here for much of the day. as soon as they put out the fire, then as you heard, they're going to go inside, take a look around, just make sure -- [ inaudible ] >> megan mcgrath live in rockville. >> we'll check in with melissa mollet for breaking news. >> just into the newsroom, activists in syria say 31 people are dead including children after a massive sbloegz rocked downtown -- explosion rocked downtown damascus. a car bomb detonated early this morning near a building of the ruling ba'ath party and a school. state media called the blast a suicide bombing by those battling president bashar al assad.

at the live desk, melissa mollet, news4. today vice president joe biden heads to connecticut for a conference on gun violence where he'll sit alongside the parents of a sandy hook elementary shooting victim. they'll join a number of lawmakers and gun control advocates to discuss tightening the gun laws. the conference is happening at western connecticut state university. that's the college gunman adam lanza attended as a teenager and is just 15 miles from the site of december's deadly shooting which killed 26 people. 6:18 now. also today, maryland governor martin o'malley's sweeping gun control reform faces a preliminary vote. a senate panel expected to vote today. the bill includes a ban on assault weapons, establishing licensing provisions, and requiring background checks. this morning, university of maryland president wallace lowe is endorsing that gun control legislation. this comes just a week after the apparent murder/suicide involving several students in college park. lowe will formally endorse the bill in a column to be published in today's issue of the campus newspaper, "the diamondback."

new, we've just received video into the newsroom of north korean leader kim jong-un at a military drill. take a look. north korean state television is braftding these images -- broadcasting these images showing kim inspecting soldiers at an unknown base. we can't confirm when the pictures were taken. this comes a little more than a week after north korea conducted its third nuclear test. mitt romney is finally returning to the spotlight more than three months after losing the presidential election. the former republican nominee will speak at the conservative political action conference next month in national harbor. romney has spoken at the conference in past years. but he's kept a low profile since his defeat last november. he did return to washington last month for a luncheon in his honor. it may be a couple of months away, but the online lottery for the white house easter egg roll opens in just a few hours. starting at 10:00 this morning, parents can try their luck at getting tickets for the annual easter egg roll. you can sign up until monday, february 25. winners will be notified on

march 1. the roll is a month later, on april 1. we're marking a huge milestone here on news4. >> that's right. 30 years ago today. some of you may remember seeing tom kierein. >> who can tell me what are some of the solids coming to the atmosphere? >> 30 years at nbc 4 means 30 years of school visits for tom. >> every week tom visits schools answering questions and talking about meteorology and science. if you had to guess, ballpark estimate, how many classrooms do you think you visited over your career? >> good question. has to be hundreds. such a wonderful experience talking to students. and seeing their real interest in the environment and nature, and there is a gorgeous view of the sunrise now. that's a live view from the nbc 4 city camera. reagan national now at 26 degrees. we're going to still be holding

steady in the mid 20s by 8:00. by noon, should be in the mid 30s much of the region. lots of sun. that wind is blowing at 25, 30 miles per hour. by mid-afternoon, the low 40s. the wind is going to be keeping our windchills, teen and 20s, through much of the day. it will settle down tonight. then during the day on friday, 20s in the morning, afternoon highs into the low 40s. and then friday night we might get a little sleet, a little bit of snow. that changing over to rain after midnight as the atmosphere warms up aloft. we'll get our temperatures into the 40s on saturday with occasional light rain during the day saturday and ending sudden night. then sun back on sunday, should be a bit milder. should be the best day of the weekend. around 50 degrees. great for some much-needed outdoor activities. we'll see monday, too, up near 50 again, increasing cloud. could get a brief mix changing to rain on tuesday. i'm back in ten minutes. a look at traffic with danella now. good morning. good morning. i'm tracking a couple issues on 29, columbia pike in maryland. first, we just talked about. it northbound at fairland road,

a disabled vehicle blocking the right lane here. the second incident has happened at tech road, blocking all of your lanes. so if you're traveling north and southbound on 29, expect delays in both directions. this is randolph road southbound heading toward tech road. again, the intersection is shut down. i'm also still keeping an eye on the rails for you. so far, metro, marc, vre running on or close to schedule. >> thanks. guys, i'm going to give you some information today, but you need to be careful. go in like this if you tell your wife or girlfriend there b the story coming up. we'll tell you what some local researchers say women are wired to do. and great news if you're reaching for that cup of coffee this morning.

[ telephone rings ] good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, i'm that flo. aren't you sweet! licensed phone-ups available 24/7. call 1-800-progressive. folks with tyred eyes and foggy -- with fired eyes a -- wd eyes and foggy brains, good news. researchers have found drinking two to three cups of coffee a day could cut the risk of early death up to 15%. it's unclear if decaf has the same effect as regular coffee. the next time the man in your life says you talk too much, be sure to chat their ear

off about why. scientists at the university of maryland in baltimore say women really do talk more than men because of higher levels of a protein known as foxp2 found in the brain. researchers say women have 30% more of the so-called language protein than men. it's been estimated that women say about 20,000 word a day, while men only say about 7,000. and i'm still wondering if this has anything to do with language skills, intelligence, that sort of thing. >> how did i know you weren't going to read the story and stop talking? >> i'm wondering about the research in this. and i know you'd like to say that you don't talk a lot. but i tend to disagree with you. >> i'm sure you would. i do it because it's a function of my profession. you do it apparently because you can't help yourself. >> that is absolutely not true. and i am offended by. that thanks, aaron. >> i'm in the doghouse now. 6:26 the time. this morning, a new report that parents need to know about. who says children need to slow down on the fast food? we're following two breaking news stories now. two fires in maryland, the first

one a very tough scene. an adult and two children killed. >> the other fire at a former youth treatment facility.

we're staying on top of breaking news in prince george's county. a deadly house fire in glenar n glenarden. not much good news coming from the scene. the picture shows some of that, a child being carried away, rescued by firefighters. two children, though, and an adult did not make it. >> this is in the 8600 block of leslie avenue in glenarden. we have more live. tony, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that firefighter that was actually carrying that child that i got a picture of, he said he was too distraught to even talk about the scene here this morning. i talked to chief bashore, and i have to tell you that the two children that died were both girls. a few minutes ago we were told an adult male and two children died in this fire. we found out a couple of minutes ago at that children were girls. look at the scene. you see multiple fire investigators inside the house trying to find any clues as to what started this fire at 4:00 a.m. this morning. a volunteer fire department was first on the scene. they got here, they pulled six people from the house.

four of them were in grave condition. and then as we just learned, three of them have died. now we're unsure if the home had working smoke detectors. again, firefighters did have to pull those six people out. we're also told that a mother and a child jumped out of the window earlier this morning. there has been just an overwhelming amount of fires here in prince george's county. the fire chief wants to let people know that they need to make sure that they check their smoke detectors and make sure that they're working, especially during the winter when people are using oil and heaters and what have you. again, firefighters trying -- investigators trying to figure out the cause of the fire as we have three people that have died. one person, they were able -- one child they were able to restore a pulse. still in bad condition. we'll continue to stay on the scene in prince george's county. that's the latest. back to you. >> thank you. we want to welcome you back to this last half-hour of "news4 today." i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm eun yang. a cold and windy morning. tom kierein now on the storm

team 4 weather deck. tom, good morning to you. >> whoo! it is bitterly cold this morning. we've got the wind blowing here at about 15, 20 miles per hour. the sky has cleared out. you need to layer up this morning. there is the predawn glow over the potomac river. we have cleared out after a little case loadiness around the region -- cloudiness around the region earlier. down to the low to mid 20s. prince george's county, arlington, fairfax, montgomery county. all around the region from west virginia all the way to the atlantic beaches. we have it down into the 20s. look at the windchills. they are down into the teens right now. and the winds really aren't blowing that hard. around 10, 15 miles per hour. later this morning and to the afternoon, the wind will increase in strength. in fact, we'll have gusts to around 20 to 30 miles per hour by later this morning. ought to just begin to get above freezing by about 10:00. and then by noontime, just the mid 30s. sunrise coming up at 6:53. sunset, 5:52. we are going to have this wind with us into the afternoon, as

well. details on that, we'll look at this evening, too, coming up in ten minutes. now a look at our traffic on this thursday morning. here's danella. good morning. in the first 4 traffic office, tracking a couple of problems. the first one we'll start with, 210 northbound just prior to the beltway. crash there is creating a four-mile backup. so if you're traveling northbound 210, four miles to get to the beltway. still tracking the situation along 29 in maryland. chopper 4 is on the scene. earlier a crash was blocking the northbound and southbound lanes. now southbound gets by. travel lanes are open, but delays are about a mile. as you travel southbound, 29, you see as chopper zooms in heading toward tech road. seeing delays right about a mile as you continue this commute. once you pass tech road, though, travel lanes open up. let's head over to i-95 northbound. along the left lane here. the left lane as well as the left center lane. fire department police also on the scene.

this is at franconia-springfield parkway. aaron? >> thank you. fire marshals trying to figure out this morning what caused a raging warehouse fire in germantown. crews were called to the area for what is believed to be a storage unit fire for a catering company, they think, at about 8:00 last night. it took 75 montgomery county firefighters, six tanker trucks of water, and several hours to put the fire out. no one was hurt. the building is a total loss. firefighters say the flames moved so fast, it may be hard to figure out how it started. 6:34. in montgomery county, look out for a suspicious man approaching girls. police say a man has approached several girls in three separate cases in the chevy chase area. on tuesday, a man approached two girls in two incidents at south park avenue and kirkside drive. on friday, a man approached a group of young girls in the 2400 block of ross road. in each case the girls were able to run to safety. if you have any information, call montgomery county police.

today a former olympic swim coach is expected in court for a plea hearing in montgomery county. rick curl is expected to plead guilty on child sex abuse charges. a former swimmer says curl sexually abused her for five years in the 1980s, starting when she was 13 years old. she is now an adult. curl could face 15 years in prison if found guilty. getting soda from the vending machine could become a thing of the past for students in fairfax county. the school board considering a ban on soda sales. members are considering it, of course for health reasons, but a ban would present one problem -- across the county, soda sales currently bring in more than $100,000 a year. and many think students would just bring the drinks from home. no word on whether the current soda machines would be replaced with a different kind of vending machine. for more information on this, check out the "fairfax times" or log on to fairfaxtimes.com. this morning, a new survey shows how much we consume in fast food. a new study find adults consume about 11% of their daily

calories from fast food. researchers say that's down over the last few years. the percentage of fast food calories was the same in both men and women. it did decrease with age. no difference was observed by income status. african-americans and younger adults consumed the most fast food. today the d.c. council will discuss a proposal to crack down on parents whose kids continue skipping school. david catania wants to require the attorney general to prosecute parents if their kids have 20 or more unexcused absences in a school year. that could land parents in jail for up to five days. about 3,000 d.c. students miss at least a month of school every year. a d.c. council member wants to limit where smoke curse light up outside, as well. vincent orange sponsoring that bill. it would bar smoking within 25 feet of a playground, schoolyard, or other outdoor play area. that means it could soon be illegal to smoke on hundreds of city blocks. council chairman phil mendelsohnn says he's concerned the bill may essentially outlaw

tobacco. a new plan aimed at making d.c. the greenest city in the nation is ruffling some feathers. mayor vincent gray unveiled a number of proposals yesterday to make the district more environmentally friendly. among them, doubling the number of bike lanes in the city, raising parking meter rates during peak hours to cut car usage 25%, and charging homeowners for the amount of trash they generate. the ideas are getting mixed reviews. the mayor says the plan is meant to set some long-term goals. breaking news this morning. firefighters battling two fires, this one at a former youth facility. it is now vacant. an update ahead. in prince george's county, a deadly fire at this home, two children among the three victims killed. right now, much of the country is getting buried by snow. the latest on a very rare storm ahead. and a look at our forecast.

a bitter winter storm is

dropping a mix of snow, sleet, and ice in the midwest, causing a mess on the roads. it's heading our way. >> a look at storm team 4 radar. the worst of the storm making its way through the midsection this hour. nbc's jay gray live in kansas city, missouri. >> good morning. a bitter cold wind. gusting at times over 25 miles per hour. no snow at this point. but it is on the way. let's take a live look in wichita, kansas. they are getting the snow right now. and it's near whiteout conditions there. it is coming down more than an inch an hour. it will continue this way for quite some time. you can see just making a mess of things there. and that's what's on the way. in fact, forecasters saying this snow is going to continue throughout the day into the evening. by the time it's done in places

like this, wichita could see up to two feet of snow. crews have staged, it's going to be tough to stay ahead of a storm that's dropping snow at this rate. they'll do the best they can. a lot of schools obviously closed in the area. businesses watching and trying to determine what they will do as the storm moves through. again, this is a condition that's only going to get worse throughout the morning and into the middle of the day. that's the latest live here, back to you now. aaron, eun? >> thanks. >> as we advance to the east, it's bitterly cold but clear. temperatures down into the low to mid 20s. just about all of virginia, west virginia, and into maryland, delaware, all around the region. we are below freezing. springfield, hometown forecast by noontime, just the mid 30s. the winds will be gusting around 30 miles per hour, feeling like it's only 20 by midday. then by mid-afternoon, we should be peeking in the low 40s.

still a strong, gusty wind, then the wind diminishes tonight temperatures plummeting right back down below freezing after midnight. then maybe a bid of a wintry mix from the storm here tomorrow. we'll talk about that and look at the weekend, seven-day outlook in ten minutes. now traffic with danella. good morning. in the first 4 traffic office, checking delays in oxon hill along 210. northbound, a four-mile delay once you get to the beltway, that's where you will find the accident. please be aware of that delay. let's head over i-95 northbound in virginia. franconia-springfield parkway. crash here just blocking the left lane. and it involves multiple vehicles. you see tow truck is on the scene. hopefully it should clear soon. for now, just two of the right lanes will get you by. we'll talk about delays at fairfax county parkway. you see absolutely jammed. almost looks like the camera is frozen. you see hov getting by nice and clear. from prince william parkway, we'll take at least 40 minutes to get to the beltway. eun? >> thank you. 6:43. breaking news out of rockville.

this is one of two fire scenes we're at this morning. megan mcgrath is live now. what are you learning so far? >> reporter: well, we have new information about the history of this building and a police call that came in last night before the fire began. the fire is at the karma academy. a former treatment facility for juveniles in the justice system. it has been closed for a number of years. the electricity has been cut to the building. we're learning that last night a 911 call came in, a call to police. rockville city police, for a report of an open door here at the facility. it's owned by the county. because of that, there are routine security checks done to the facility, to the grounds. during one of those checks last night, that security officer discovered the open door. again, this facility is supposed to be all boarded up and locked tight. they checked out the building, did not find anybody inside, secured the building, and then left. we'll jump to this morning about

quarter of 5:00. a 911 call came in. report from a neighbor that the building was fiscally engulfed in flames. there's a picture that was tweeted out early this morning by the public information officer by montgomery county police. you can see just how intense this fire was. it fully engulfed the building. it is a complete loss at this point. one of the questions the fire department has is was there someone inside the building. homeless people perhaps, living inside this building. they do not know the answer to that. they're knocking down the flames, dealing with hot spots. when they finish that, they'll go inside and check it out. reporting live in rockville, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you. >> thank you. 6:45. breaking news out of south africa now. it will be yet another day before we learn whether olympian oscar pistorius will be granted bail. >> his lawyer says a late start to today's hearing will push the decision to tomorrow. so far today the defense is arguing that there is no

evidence to supported a murder charge against pistorius. they say investigators supported his story yesterday. the prosecution is arguing that despite poor evidence-gathering, pistorius is a flight risk because of a supposed home he owns in italy. the detective who has led the pistorius investigation is off the case. hilton botha faces his own legal issues. seven counts of attempted murder. he and two other officers fired shots while trying to stop a minivan in 2011. those charges were initially dropped. it was discovered yesterday that they were reinstated. it's not clear if the revelation will affect whether pistorius is granted bail. a toddler is dead in prince george's county this morning after being hit by the family car. police say a 3-year-old boy was behind the car when it started drifting backwards last night on audrey lane in oxon hill. the father who was carrying his 2-year-old daughter at the time dropped the girl and jumped into the car to try and stop it. it was too late. the little boy was hit and died

from his injuries. the little girl also suffered serious injuries. security will be tight at suitland high school as students deal with the murder of one of their own. look at what happened at a vigil for the fallen student. [ siren ] >> people began scrambling shortly after an argument broke out. police eventually got the control of situation. this unfolded as more than 100 people gathered to remember 15-year-old charles walker. he was shot and killed monday. police believe he was killed over a pair of shoes he was carrying. officers arrested five suspects in the shooting yesterday. >> i'm pleased -- some -- somebody had to come to justice for this. they had to come to justice for this. i'm very happy with the police department. >> charles walker is one of seven teens killed in prince george's county this school year. he died yesterday after being shot in forestville. 18-year-old andre shuford was shot in the parking lot of a forestville apartment. another teen, aaron kidd, was

also killed in the shooting. police have not arrested anyone in the case. congress may not be in session, but a few democrats are holding a hearing on capitol hill, looking into the impact of sequestration on the american economy, middle-class families, and small businesses. wednesday, defense secretary leon panetta formally notified congress of the pentagon's plan to furlough civilian employees should congress not act to stop those automatic spending cuts from going into effect on march 1, just eight days from now. and government agencies all over the country holding their breath to see if congress will make a deal. the national institutes of health would lose $1.at billion in funding -- $1.5 billion in funding if a deal is not made. that means millions of americans whose lives depend on advanced treatments and research, they'll have to go without. nih, cancer, hiv, and alzheimer's research would come to a halt. border protection and transit agents could be out of

jobs because of cuts. the wait times for flights could double. you could find yourself in line for three hours to get through security and six hours to get through customs. house speaker john boehner submitted an op-ed in the "wall street journal" about the cuts. speaker boehner wrote, "the president has repeatedly called for even more tax revenue, but the american people don't support trading spending cuts for higher taxes. the president's sequester is the wrong way to reduce the deficit, but it is here to stay until washington democrats get serious about cutting spending. the government simply cannot keep delaying the inevitable and spending money it doesn't have." and stay with news4 for continuing coverage of the sequestration showdown as the march 1 deadline approaches. which you can't watch, you can get the latest information on nbcwashington.com. sony makes the announcement gamers have been waiting for. cnbc has more on that. good morning. good morning. sony takes the wraps off the new playstation 4 -- sort of. the consumer electronics giant held a big event last night in

new york and showed off what the new game console will be able to do. features include streaming video and other content from the internet and a cloud gaming service. sony didn't reveal the actual p.s. 4 device and also didn't say how much it would cost. the p.s. 4 is expected to hit stores in november. back to you. >> all right. thank you. we have been celebrating the 30-year anniversary of tom kierein here at nbc washington. >> yeah. no -- no ordinary day in the weather center. it's tom's 30th anniversary. since 1983, tom has been delivering the forecast with a little flair. >> brushstroke orange clouds in that deep midnight blue sky. there's a tangerine tinge on the underside of those clouds now. >> that is my favorite part of every morning. tom, quite possibly the only meteorologist who can make you hungry with the forecast. >> that's right. what is the sun doing today, tom?

>> looks like peaches and cream to me. >> i love it. >> that is a live view from the nbc 4 h.d. city camera. it's been such an honor and privilege to serve you, our viewer at home, all these years. thank you so much for your loyal viewership over the years. and i can't believe it's been 30 years. we're starting off this february morning down into the 20s. it's below freezing. all the way from the mountains to the beaches. montgomery county's in the low 20s. just low and mid 20s in prince george's county, arlington, and fairfax, low to mid 20s. in the mid 20s district of columbia. these are the latest windchills. windchills now are just in the teens to near ten degrees. winds only blowing 10, 15 miles per hour. it's going to be increasing. now the sun, it's going to be coming up in a second. sunrise at 6:53. reagan national at 26 by mid-afternoon, low 40s with the wind gusting around 30 miles per hour.

and then tomorrow, we'll have increasing clouds, mid 20s in the morning. cloudy through the daylight hours. then it's friday night, after sunset. after we reach near 40 in the afternoon, it's going to drop into the 30s. we may get snow and sleet on friday. after midnight, we should get warmer air aloft, changing precipitation to a cold rain. then mid 30s saturday with cold rain. off and on chilly rain on saturday with highs in the 40s. sun back on sunday and monday with highs near 50 each day. then another chance of maybe a brief wintry mix on tuesday, changing to rain. then drying out wednesday. highs in the mid 40s. now let's look at traffic. danella, good morning. good morning, in the david letterman traffic office, a live shot. the trip will take 15 minutes on 495. it is slow. let's head over to 210 dealing with an accident northbound lanes prior to the beltway.

this accident should be clearing soon according to police. delays are about 4.5 miles. shooting back to i-95 in virginia, the earlier crash was blocking two of your left lanes. now you see just the left shoulder lane is blocked. this is northbound at franconia-springfield parkway. checking on delays, still significant right now. jammed at fairfax county parkway. delays are up to about six miles. aaron and eun? >> thank you. we are continuing to follow breaking news in prince george's county. >> this is all happening in glenarden, maryland. there is a fire in a home that claimed the life of a man and two children. we have more live on the latest. tony? >> reporter: hey, guys, good morning. investigators are still trying to comb through this house to get any idea of what started this fire. take a live look at the scene now that we have dale here. you see firefighters still on scene. they're putting out hot spots in -- and multiple investigators inside the house. investigating the fire that took the life of one man and two little girls this morning. i literally just talked to a

family member a few moments ago. we don't want to speculate as to the start of the fire because, again, investigators will do that. but the man said he came here on tuesday and was absolutely furious that there were kerosene heaters inside the home. so we don't want to speculate that that was the cause of the fire, again, but one of the family members told me he was here two days ago and the home did contain kerosene heaters inside. again, as you mentioned, a man and two little girls parksed away. another is in -- passed away. another is in grave condition. six people pulled from the home when firefighters got here. still a lot of questions to be had this morning. we're expecting an update from chief bashore in a few minutes as we get those details, we'll put them up on nbcwashington.com. we'll also have more at midday. back to you guys. >> tony, thank you. in the day ahead, a push to repeal the death penalty in maryland could face its first vote. the senate judiciary committee could take up the measure today. it is also before a house committee. governor martin o'malley says he

believes he has the votes in the assembly to get the bill passed. a previous attempt in 2009 failed. five men are currently on death row. there has been a hold on executions since 2006. if passed, maryland would become the 18th state to abolish the death penalty. also in maryland today, the governor's sweeping gun control reform faces a preliminary vote. a senate panel expected to vote today. that bill includes a ban on assault weapons, establishing licensing provisions, and requiring background checks. today, vice president joe biden heads to connecticut for a conference on gun violence. among the people who will join him, the parents of one of the victims of the sandy hook elementary shooting. the conference is happening at western connecticut state university. that's the college that gunman adam lanza attended as a teenager and is just 15 miles from the site of december's deadly shooting in which 26 were killed. first lady michelle obama marking a milestone for her let's move campaign. to celebrate three successful years, the first lady is taking the movement on the road.

she will make stops in new york, illinois, missouri, and mississippi. mrs. obama launched the wellness campaign to fight childhood obesity and to promote exercise and healthy eating among children. she'll spend time with jimmy fallon. you can look forward to that on nbc 4. >> fun. speaking of healthy, our own tom kierein lives a very healthy lifestyle and has been giving us the forecast for 30 years. not once during those 30 years did he ever pass out on the air. >> what? >> there's an australian meteorologist -- woo ee're goin somewhere with this. it's understandable when you see what's happening at the time. take a look -- >> come on. >> i would have been screaming. that is grant denier going for the ride of his life. he was doing the forecast from a stunt plane this week. apparently enduring 8 g forces. was too much for him to handle. he passed out live on the air. he is okay, though. >> thank goodness. i mean, it's one thing to have do the weather, but then on top of that, doing it up there.

all right. >> tom has never passed out on the air. >> no. thank goodness. >> but he might -- he might after seeing this. take a look. >> okay. the air comes in over us, we see the temperatures are quite cool along the coast. partly cloudy here -- >> 30 years ago, tom kierein started here at nbc 4. we are celebrating the time that he's been giving you forecasts, helping you get through the day with weather. >> be sure to post something on facebook congratulating tom on 30 wonderful years. thank you for the service for the community you do every morning. thanks, tom. >> thank you very much. been getting messages already, twitter, facebook. really appreciate all

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